Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 395

Chapter 395: Back to Boulder Creek.
Dinner did not end with smiles as it had started. Zulu left in a huff. Of course, she did not leave the left-over seeds behind. Rori packed them for her and carried them and the bird back to her house.

The kids were confused; White was happy. Sunshine sent them off to bed. Once they were asleep, she returned to the living room where Hades was waiting for her.

He stood near a closed window, part of his body leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the sky for signs of a new disaster they were not prepared for.

“Kids are in dream land.” She announced.

He turned to her with a soft warm look in his eyes.

She walked over and nudged him with her hip. “What?” Sunshine smirked.

“Nothing. You just look really beautiful when you’re bossy.”

Sunshine snorted. “Bossy?”

He stepped closer and brushed a hand down her arm. “Terrifyingly bossy. And incredibly sexy.”

She laughed and slipped her hands around his neck, drawing him into a soft kiss. Hades’ hands found her waist, pulling her closer. After the day they had, the brief moment of tenderness felt like breathing fresh air after drowning.

“Thank you,” Hades murmured against her hair.

“For what?” she whispered.

“For keeping us alive.”

Sunshine rested her forehead against his chest. “If we are being honest….it is Zulu that we should thank. I cannot imagine the disaster those fever wasps would have created if we were unprepared.”

Hades sighed. “I will never thank that swaggering bird or else I would never hear the end of it. Why did you say no to her moving in?” He put his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. He wanted all the answers she had, said and unsaid.

She narrowed her eyes. “I only trust a handful of people and Zulu is not on the list. Much as I like the bird and even enjoy her chaos, I think she is a double aged sword.”

He nodded. “She could relay false information, knowing or unknowingly.”

Sunshine nodded. “Also, if the watchers get their claws on her, she could give up information on us. It is one thing to have general information about the base but if she moves in, she will come to know some of our secrets. Even if she does not share them with the watchers, she could spill them on the broadcast or sell the information like she sold the location of Jon’s gold!”

Hades chuckled, leading her to the bedroom. They curled closely on the bed, the warmth of each other easing the weight of the world.

“Did I make the right decision concerning Zulu?” she asked.

He pulled her closer. “Yes. White and Castiel are always fighting. We don’t need to add Zulu into the mix knowing all too well that White does not like her. And you are right; our secrets cannot be allowed to fall in the wrong ears.”

Sunshine closed her eyes. “What about my refusing to send help to Westbrook town?”

He brushed her hair with his hand. “You made the right decision. Besides, the crocodylus and snake are still fighting. It gave the people time to find somewhere to hide or escape to neighboring towns or the city. It will be easy for us to take control now.”

They both fell silent, thinking of the decisions that they had made that day.

Sunshine fell asleep first, head resting on Hades’ shoulder.

Hades stayed awake long enough to whisper goodnight and kiss her on the nose.

In the dead of night, while the rest of Fortress Four slept under the safety of the filament shield, Sunshine opened her eyes. Hades’ arm lay heavy across her waist; she gently lifted it and kissed his forehead before slipping out of bed.

Sleeping at night was a luxury and did not want to get used to it, besides she had better things to do.

She used one of her three passes to go back to Boulder Creek.

The moment she reached on the other side, the difference slapped her in the face_ figuratively and literally.

The air was still harsh, thick with toxic particles. Her mask filtered it, enabling her to breathe easily. The sky above was still a sickly greenish-gray and it was windier than the last time she had been there.

Just like the last time, she felt the eyes watching her immediately. She walked on broken glass and old factory skeletons, heading toward the junk field behind the large, abandoned drone factory. The same place she’d collected valuable scrap before.

She had taken only five steps into it when the system sent an alert.

[“Three heat signatures detected. One ahead. Two behind you.]

Sunshine’s hand tightened on the handle of her hammer.

“System, I guess you were wrong about this place not having life.”

[I clearly said that I was not certain.]

“What do they want?” She asked herself.

[You are an intruder…..they are probably here to eliminate you.]

Sunshine didn’t have time to respond. Two figures stepped out from behind her_ slowly, cautiously. Two males. Thin, pale, and dressed in rags that had once been clothes.

Their faces were wrapped in dirty scarves, revealing only their eyes. Their irises were a strange whitish gray, like the world had drained every bit of color from them.

She turned toward them, voice steady. “What do you want?”

The men exchanged startled glances. “You speak our language?” the shorter one asked, astonished.

“Yes,” Sunshine replied flatly. “Answer the question.”

The shorter man cleared his throat. “We… we want to make a deal.”

The system scanned them again. [Their heartbeats are elevated. They are afraid of you.]

Sunshine’s grip on the hammer loosened slightly. Afraid people usually meant desperate people, but it also lowered their chances of attempting to attack her. Desperate people could be reasoned with_ sometimes. She studied them, then nodded once.

“Talk. I’m listening.”

They motioned for her to follow. “You must speak to Othyrean first. He is our ruler now.”

“Ruler,” Sunshine muttered under her breath. “Wonderful. We can finally stop the hide and seek.”

She followed_ but cautiously. Her eyes stayed sharp, her stance half-ready for a fight. Trust wasn’t something she handed out freely. Especially not in deadly, starving apocalyptic worlds. They led her into the old factory, the very one she had been to. But this time, there was no crawling.

They walked in upright, through a door!

Sunshine expected empty silence and dust. Instead, she found a hive of activity. Hundreds of people moved like busy ants in a colony. Some carried metal scraps and tossed them onto a huge mountain of junk. Others sorted through piles of plastic, rubber, wire, and rusted machinery.

Children sat on overturned barrels, chewing on dried roots or staring hollow-eyed into space. Every head she passed turned toward her. Conversations halted. Hands froze.

Someone whispered, “It’s her…”

Sunshine swallowed. So, she had been watched the last time she came. They’d seen her pick up scrap. They’d followed her. They remembered her.

They brought her to the base of the scrap mountain. That was where he stood_ Othyrean. Tall, thinner than expected, with skin stretched tight over sharp cheekbones. A small mask covered his nose, and he removed it.

He was monitoring the others as they worked, keeping count of what they collected.

“Welcome,” he said. “We have been waiting for your return.”

Sunshine felt the weight of a hundred eyes watching every breath she took. “Why?” she asked carefully. “Why were you waiting for me?”

Othyrean lifted his hand. He held the wrapper of the protein bar she’d eaten during her last visit.